The Scarlet Ibis
by Aeris Hotaru Lockhart
Summary: Duo, a young orphan boy with heart problems, and one of the older boy's interactions with him. The story is told from Duo's lover, Heero, POV. This is an AU story and is OOC. This story also contains: yaoi, angst,
1. The Scarlet Ibis, Preface

The Scarlet Ibis  
Preface  
The inspiration for this piece was James Hurst's The Scarlet Ibis. The story is   
about a young boy who struggles his whole life because of his medical conditions. His   
brother teaches him hoe to walk, swim, and much more. The story is in the older   
brother's POV. It is a really good story, and I suggest you read it.  
The story I wrote is a Gundam Wing Fanfic. It includes yaoi, angst, lime, and   
sap. This story is about Duo, a young orphan boy with heart problems, and one of the   
older boy's interactions with him. The story is told from Duo's lover, Heero, POV. This   
is an AU story and is OOC.  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. Gundam Wing   
belongs to its rightful owners. Please do not use this fanfic on your site without giving   
me credit. If you want to contact me please send me e-mail to   
aeris_hotaru_lockhart@yahoo.com Thank you.  
~*~Aeris Hotaru Lockhart~*~ 


	2. The Scarlet Ibis, Chapter 1

The Scarlet Ibis  
Chapter 1-  
Duo Maxwell, probably one of the most joyful creatures in the world is now gone. When I look   
back on it, it seems as he never existed. He left so quickly; I don't know how to put it. I realize now that   
he meant more to me then I ever could have imagined. I wish I could be with him again.   
--10 years ago-  
The nuns told us that another kid would be moving in with us. All they told us about his was that   
his name was Duo Maxwell and he was a couple years younger then the rest of us. There are already three   
other kids besides me, and that is a lot for such a small place. We're all orphans, and we are stuck here   
until we become adults. I'm only seven years old, so I really don't understand what the nuns are talking   
about most of the time. Something about the economy, I guess. Economy? I have no clue who he is, but   
the nuns really like to talk about him.  
Duo arrives here late at night. I can't see his face because it is so dark. Why is one of the nuns   
standing behind all the way through the yard? They are going to come inside the house soon. The other   
nun tells us to get cleaned up and take our seats at the table. My eyes widen in shock as he enters the room.   
He's in a wheel chair? Why is he in a wheel chair? He looks very thin, pale, and weak. The nuns tell us   
that he has a heart problem, and he isn't very stable. I look him over in disbelief. How can someone only   
five years old have a heart problem. We were always taught you had to watch out for that when you get   
older.  
I glance back over at him, and he's smiling sweetly. He says hello, and I'm just standing there   
looking like an idiot. I wonder how much of a fool I'm making of my self. He seems like he might be   
okay, but looks are deceiving, right? The nuns inform me that he'll be staying in my room. That could get   
annoying, but at least I'll have someone to talk to.  
The next morning we all get washed up for breakfast. I see him get out of his wheel chair and   
walk a few feet so that he could get to his chair at the table. I can tell he struggles a lot just to do this   
amount of movement, and I wonder how anything could be that wrong with a person. I've also notice he   
barely eats anything, must be another one of his problems. When we go outside to play, he stays inside.   
When I ask the nun about it she informs me that he can't come in contact with all the germs outside. She   
says that he'll get very sick, and we leave it at that.  
As the rest of the kids start to get use to him, we tease him a lot about his problems. I wonder why   
he never says anything back. He just sits there and continues to smile at us. We decided to pull a trick on   
him by pushing him down the stairs. When he lands at the bottom he doesn't cry, move, or anything. We   
figure it's just because he's scared. None of us like it down there, its dark and disgusting. When in it time   
for dinner we find out that he is still down there. His knee is bleeding a little, but nothing major. The nun   
carries him upstairs, clean him, and put him to bed. Then they give a lecture about being mean to him. I   
can tell this is not going to be very fun with him living with us.   
Aeris Hotaru Lockhart- Aeris_Hotaru_Lockhart@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/yaoi_lover_girl 


	3. The Scarlet Ibis, Chapter 2

The Scarlet Ibis  
Chapter 2-  
--2 years later-  
Duo is learning how to take care of himself. While we are out learning how to make chairs, fix   
plumbing, fix roofs, he is learning how to cook, sow, and knit. He's learning how to do thing you can't pay   
people do to unless you're rich. He can walk further now, and he only uses the wheel chair when he has to.   
Duo cooks us two meals a day and provides one fourth of all our clothing. I must say, he does have unique   
taste. He wears all black and dark purple now. It looks good on him, showing off his pale skin, rosy   
cheeks, and violet eyes.   
Nothing has really changed between us. We still make fun of him, and he still sits there smiling. I   
wonder if he will ever change. All these ideas in my head disappeared when I saw him crying in his room.   
He was sitting on the floor leaning against his bed. I've never felt my heart cringe this much before. The   
poor boy can barely cry without virtually killing himself. He gasping for breath, and yet he still can't stop   
crying. I walk over to him and hug him close to me, and I feel him lean up against me chest. I look down   
at him, telling him everything will be okay, and stroke my fingers through his long hair. He slowly falls   
asleep against me. I place him in bed and cuddle up next to him. I know that he needs someone's support   
now.  
--8 years later-  
I walk to the dining room to find the nuns panicking. I ask them what's wrong, and they tell me   
that Duo is gone. I run out side as fast as I could looking for him. I yell out his name but I get no response.   
It begins to rain, and a very cold wind picks up. I continue to look for him. I walk past some of the apple   
trees and look into the brush near the pond. Duo is sitting there with his knees pulled up. He is shivering   
and completely soaked. I pick up his lithe body and carry him back to the house. The nuns instantly take   
care of him by giving his a warm bath and getting him dry clothing.  
It is later that night when I really see how weak his body is. I find him in his bathroom, extremely   
sick. He is vomiting, even though he hasn't had anything to eat. After he stops he begins to cough up   
blood. I rush over to him and hold him until he becomes stable again. He tells me that he is okay, and that   
he usually coughs up blood in situations like these. I help him to his bed and let him get some sleep.  
The next day the nuns scold him for going outside, and I sit here wondering why it was so bad.   
He runs to his room (Which shocks me to death. When could he run?), and begins to cry, screaming at the   
nuns saying that they hate him. I walk into his room and ask him why he was so mad. He tells me that it is   
unfair that he can't enjoy how it is outside. I try telling him that it isn't that fun, and he comes back with,   
"Sure it is easy for you not to want to go outside, but I never can! Don't act like you understand when you   
have no idea what I'm going through. Leave me alone, I hate all of you." I gently hug him and let him slowly drift off to sleep.  
Aeris Hotaru Lockhart- Aeris_Hotaru_Lockhart@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/yaoi_lover_girl 


	4. The Scarlet Ibis, Ending

The Scarlet Ibis  
Chapter 3-  
A few days after the incident I come to visit him in his room. He seems so unhappy, yet he is so   
beautiful. I walk over to him and sit next to on the bed. He looks away from me, but I bring his face to   
look at me. I smile gently at him and then softly kiss him. He stiffens with shock, but slowly relaxes under   
the embrace. After I break the kiss I tell him how beautiful he is. He smiles softly and blushes. I pull him   
down next to me and fall asleep in his warmth.  
A week later when I go to visit him, we end up making love. It really wasn't just sex, but sweet,   
romantic, lovemaking. I pulled Duo close to me after we finished, noticing how beautiful he looked with   
after glow. I gently pull the covers over him to keep him warm. He smiles sweetly telling me he loves me.   
I only smirk at this remark and then tell him I love him too. I run me fingers slowly through his hair, while   
smelling his sweet scent. We fall asleep in each other arms.  
--3 years later-  
Duo is 18 now, and we both moved away from the house. We decided to buy a small ranch near a   
pond. I go out and work every day making decent pay, and he stays at home cooking dinner, and cleaning   
the house. He no longer needs the wheel chair while he is inside. I make him use it when I take him   
outside, I rather he didn't wear himself out. We're not fooling ourselves. We know that we can never be   
married, and we won't be happy with this forever. But for now we are truly happy, and I don't see this   
changing for a very long time. Duo... you are everything to me. Forever now, and never then.  
Aeris Hotaru Lockhart- Aeris_Hotaru_Lockhart@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/yaoi_lover_girl 


End file.
